As I stared at the books, I suddenly understood that I didn’t know a hell of a lot about anything. What it was that seemed to move me then was that learning was important… I vowed, right then, to learn something new every day. It was a deep revelation, something I felt throughout my whole self.
—Amiri Baraka
The landscape should belong to the people who see it all the time.
—Amiri Baraka
The artist’s role is to raise the consciousness of the people. To make them understand life, the world and themselves more completely. That’s how I see it. Otherwise, I don’t know why you do it.
—Amiri Baraka
Wondering Whom to Read Next?
Langston Hughes American Poet, Writer
Maya Angelou American Poet
Joyce Carol Oates American Novelist
Mark Strand American Poet, Essayist
Audre Lorde American Poet, Feminist
Richard Wright American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Alice Walker American Novelist, Activist
Carolyn Kizer American Poet
Eugene O’Neill American Playwright
Wendell Berry American Author, Environmentalist